


Descent Into Madness

by LigerCat



Series: The Insanity Series [1]
Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Alternate Dimensions, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Love, Dimension Travel, Don't Have to Know Canon, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Horror, Human Experimentation, Infected Characters, Infection, Injury, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Mild Gore, Mutants, Possible Character Death, Protective younger brother, Psychological Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller, Tragedy, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 22:51:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 19,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16128392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LigerCat/pseuds/LigerCat
Summary: Phineas and Ferb find themselves in over their heads against deadly creatures that lurk in the shadows. Trapped in a laboratory haunted by its own past, they find that it's more than just their lives at stake.The battle against insanity may be more difficult than the battle to make it out alive.





	1. Look After One Another

**Author's Note:**

> Phineas and Ferb belong to Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. I'm merely tor- er, borrowing them.

I flashed the torch around and, seeing nothing threatening, I sunk to the floor next to Phineas and shifted him to what should be a more comfortable position. Holding the torch in a way to allow the most light to shine on him, I pulled his shirt sleeve up, only to realise the wound was too high up for that to work. I pulled my Swiss army knife back out and cut the sleeve away from his injured arm.

Surveying the wounds, my mouth went dry. I turned away, closing my eyes as I took a deep breath.

I can do this.

Looking back at the injuries, I forced myself to ignore who it was on the floor and clinically examine the damage.

Three lacerations lined his upper arm up to the shoulder. Two on the bicep, one on the deltoid. Blood was still seeping from them; he had already lost a lot of color, his freckles standing out in sharp contrast against his now pale skin. Laying the torch down, I pulled off my vest, bunching it up and pressing it against the wounds.

Phineas bucked, a pained cry breaking past his lips. It pained me to hear him utter such a sound, yet it also gave me a weird feeling of relief to hear something come from his mouth.

I wrapped the vest tightly around the holes in his skin and tied it, allowing my eyes to run over him again as dread rose in me.

Did I take too long to stop the bleeding? Has he already lost too much blood? Even if I could set up a blood transfusion, our blood didn't match. It would do him more harm than good.

I ran a hand through my hair.

There are many areas in which I'd done significant studying, yet, somehow, medical studies slipped through the cracks for the most part. Perhaps... perhaps I just never truly considered that we could get hurt.

Sighing, I slid up against the wall where I could place Phineas' head in my lap, taking comfort in watching his chest rise and fall. I went to run my hand through his red hair when I noticed the amount of blood on it. Raising my hand to my face, I registered all the slivers of glass stuck in my skin and all the cuts that covered it.

As if seeing it flipped a switch, the pain set in. Aches in my muscles from moving Phineas, stinging in my fingers and palms where they were cut and impaled. The smell of both our spilled blood suddenly became overwhelming and I buried my nose against one of the non-bloody spots of my sleeve as the reality of the situation slammed into me.

Phineas was injured. Some sort of hideous creatures that wanted to kill us roam this place. Our way home was trashed. Even if our friends reopened the main portal in our dimension, we would still have to get past those monsters to reach it, or they could become injured if the creatures managed to get through the opened portal instead. Of course, if the day there proceeded as normal, Candace's 'mysterious force' may have already struck, causing the portal to either have disappeared or be destroyed.

Candace... Mum, Father, what would they think when we didn't show up for dinner? Despite all our adventures over the years, we always made sure to be home on time or to, at least, let our parents know where we would be.

Pulling my mobile phone from my pocket, the no signal symbol flashed mockingly at me, causing me to frown. We had updated our cellphones to be able to call from anywhere in space and time, and I could have sworn we'd added alternate dimensions to that list.

Stuffing the phone back into my pocket, I moved the torch to shine on my hands and pulled my army knife back out; this time to use the tweezers. I angled myself to where my hands weren't over Phineas and began picking out the fragments, the beam of light reflecting off the stained red glass. Each piece removed sent a sting of pain through my hand.

Pulling out a particularly large piece, I dropped it to the small pile that had built up. I checked to see if there were any more slivers, but I couldn't find any. My hands still felt as though something was in them.

Gingerly, I shifted Phineas from my lap, bending his uninjured arm under his head so as not to leave him without some sort of pillow and simply looked down at him for a moment before standing, pins and needles shooting through my legs.

Shouldn't he have woken up by now? If--when--we got out of this, I'd read up on medical information and procedures.

I ran a hand over my face, realising too late that in by doing so, I'd smeared it with blood.

Picking up the torch, I cast him one more look before turning away.

I'd neglected to take in much of the room when we had come in, too concerned with Phineas' well being, but now was as good a time as any to figure out where I had trapped us.

Shining the beam deeper into the room, it reflected back at me. I blinked, looking over the row of computer screens built into the far wall.

Walking across the room, I looked over the console underneath them, covered in keyboards and joysticks, and felt my lips quirk up slightly.

A control room. I couldn't have planned this better. If I had been planning.

Righting an overturned swivel chair, I placed the torch down on the seat and rolled it to where the beam would shine on the place I needed it to.

I cracked my knuckles. Time to do what I do best.


	2. Look After One Another

Glass cracked under my feet. Shining my torch down at the broken pieces, I was grateful for the thick soles of my shoes as I took another step.

"What do you think happened here?" Phineas's voice was barely above a whisper. No doubt he was as disturbed by the eeriness of this place as I was.

Shrugging, I panned the light across the dark room. It looked like a fight had happened, what with all the broken beakers and test tubes. _I think that might be blood spattered on the wall._

A high pitched squeak caught my attention, causing me to spin around only to see my step-brother trying to open one of the laboratory cabinets. Seeing me look at him, he let go of the handle and shot me a sheepish smile.

"Sorry." He cast his eyes around the dust coated room. "Maybe we should go back. This place is giving me the creeps."

I nodded my agreement and he produced the dimensional remote, we'd built earlier today, to open a portal home.

Looking at the rust coloured stain again, a chill ran down my spine.

_This was a mistake. We should have skipped over this dimension as soon as we got a look at it through the portal._

I shook the thoughts away. We would be back home soon enough.

"I'm having trouble getting a clear signal," Phineas said.

Walking towards him, I stopped when a shadow shifted in my peripheral vision. Frowning, I pointed the beam towards it, not seeing anything.

"Fer-" Phineas cut off with a thud and a scream that made my blood freeze.

I spun on my heel.

The image my eyes were seeing didn't fully process. All that registered was something attacking my brother.

Lunging, I wrapped my arms around the thing's neck, trying to pull it off of him. Its skin was moist under my hands and the smell of sour meat filled my nose.

It jerked. Phineas fell silent. Slipping at the rough movement, I lost my grip, tumbling backwards. Falling from my hand, the torch rolled, casting only enough light to outline the being. A small blur of movement shot towards me. As I rolled sideways, glass crunched under me. A metallic thunk rang out as it pierced the floor and a slurp as it shot back towards the creature.

My hand found a piece of glass as it bit into my palm. The thing shot at me again. Striking out with the shard, I hit it.

The creature cried out with a sound like nails on a chalkboard. Clicking followed as the thing retreated, disappearing from the beam of the torch as the sounds faded.

I climbed to my feet and stumbled over to Phineas, scooping up the torch on my way.

Dropping to my knees, I ran the light over him, taking in the blood that oozed down his right arm and soaked his side. My chest tightened at the sight. I reached to move his shirt out of the way.

Shrieking from the distance caught my attention and my head shot up.

I clenched my jaw and swept the light around, looking for the remote. I closed my eyes and took a calming breath when I saw the broken pieces.

Panicking wasn't going to get us anywhere.

Quickly, I gathered up as much of the remote as I could, stuffing it into my pockets.

A second shriek joined the first.

"Sorry, Bro," I muttered before grasping Phineas' left arm, lifting it over my shoulder and wrapping my arm around his waist to hoist his unconscious body up.

His head flopped lifelessly onto my shoulder as I tried to situate him into a manageable position. His exhales were warm on my neck.

Shining the torch towards the door, I started towards it, practically dragging Phineas along. It hung halfway off its hinges and as I approached the deep gashes in the metal became visible.

I flinched as more shrieks joined in.

_How many of those beasts are there?_

Beyond was a corridor splitting off in two directions. I paused to listen.

_Right, the shrieks were coming from the right._

I shuffled down the left passage, eyeing the doors as I passed them. All were either broken down, hanging off their hinges, or ripped to shreds. Beyond them, darkness lurked.

The creatures fell silent. The pounding of my heart filled my ears.

Phineas sank down slightly in my grip as his arm slipped from my shoulders.

Adjusting my grip, I tried to pull him back up without stopping even as I could feel my strength leaving me.

The corridor ended abruptly at a large metal door. I ran the torch over it. Good news: while clawed up and dented, it wasn't broken into. Bad news: it had a electronic keypad to open it.

After lowering Phineas to the floor next to the door, I stuck the butt of the torch in my mouth and pulled the broken remote from my pocket--rather the battery section of it--and my screwdriver.

I shined the beam at the keypad and started taking out the screws that were, luckily, on the front. As the last screw came out, I pulled the front panel off as far as possible without disconnecting any of the wires.

A soft click drifted from the way I came, followed by another.

Sticking the screwdriver back in my pocket, I pulled my Swiss army knife and flipped out the blade, using it to sever wires in both the keypad and battery pack. The clicking was drawing nearer as I hurriedly twisted the wires together.

A brief flare of light filled the hallway as the door buzzed, unlocking. I pushed on the door, sliding it open before it could relock.

Shoving the knife back in my pocket and ripping the battery away, I grabbed Phineas and dragged him into the room.

The clicking drew closer, becoming faster as I forced the door closed. Hearing the bolt slide back into place and locking it once more, I flinched at the dull bang that rang out as the creature collided with the solid steel door.


	3. Fret and Worry

Something was poking me. I frowned slightly. Phineas normally just throws a pillow... Phineas!

My eyes snapped open and I jolted. Somehow, that action led to me falling and landing on my arse.

"Oops, sorry, Ferb."

Blinking, I looked up. Phineas was biting his lip, red hair sticking out at angles even wilder than normal, his right arm cradled close to his chest by his other one, his complexion still pale. It seemed off, but that could have been from the after effects of blood loss combined with the red lighting of the emergency lights I'd managed to get on before falling asleep.

Getting up, I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, but being careful of his arm.

"I must have really worried you." His voice was muffled from being pressed against my chest, but still understandable.

I pulled back, hands moving to his shoulders. "How's your arm?"

His left shoulder moved under my hand as he gave a half shrug. "Doesn't hurt," he said, eyes trailing over it.

An alarming thought popped into my head. "But you can feel it, right? Can you move it? You haven't lost-"

"Ferb! Whoa!" His uninjured arm was up, hand signalling me to stop.

My mouth snapped shut as I blinked.

He had a grin on his face as he shook his head. "I get slightly hurt, you go all chatty."

"Slightly? That-"

Eyes rolling, he signaled again. "I can move it. I didn't even realize it was hurt until I did and felt the pain shoot through it. But not moving it, it doesn't hurt. Just kind of stings."

"I should check to make sure they're not becoming infected." I slid my hands over to his arm to untie the makeshift bandage. I could feel his muscles tense as I started untying it.

As I began unwrapping it, I saw his jaw clench. After pulling the vest away, my eyes widened as the wounds become visible.

While the holes themselves had stopped bleeding and had scabbed over, surrounding them were black lines working their way up his arm.

"That's weird." Phineas ran a finger over one of the lines. "That means infection, right?"

I blinked. Red lines meant infection, black lines... I had no idea.

"It seems like it should be painful," he muttered. "But it really isn't."

Looking back up to his face, the paleness of his skin jumped out at me. In a smooth movement, I shot a hand from his arm to his forehead, causing him to flinch back before realizing what I was doing.

Under my palm, his skin was cool and I dropped my hand away.

"Fever?"

I shook my head and grabbed the torch from where I had set it, turning it on and shining it in his eyes.

"Whoa! Bro! What the heck?" He jerked his hand up to block the light, but I grabbed it and pulled it back down.

"I need to check for a concussion." That I knew how to do. Sort of. Well, I'd seen it done in movies, so that counts, right?

He rolled his eyes but complied as I made sure his eyes were dilating properly.

"Headache?" I turned off the torch.

"Before you came up with the flashlight?"

Ignoring the sarcasm.

"Confusion?"

"Only on what attacked me." Phineas blinked. "What attacked me, anyway?"

I shrugged. I hadn't taken the time to observe the details of it.

"I'm assuming the remote broke?"

I nodded.

"What do we know?" He raised a hand to his chin before answering his own question. "This is some sort of lab. Judging by the thing that attacked us, possibly they were doing experiments on something that got out and the whole thing turned bad. Which would explain the mess we found when we first got here. Do we know anything else?"

"There's more than one of them. I was attempting to reactivate the cameras when I fell asleep." The backup power for this place appeared to be fully functional, it just needed to be reconnected and rebooted.

"Need any help?"

I shook my head. If he wasn't injured, sure, but right now, no. I held up the vest and raised an eyebrow at him.

Phineas brow furrowed. "Aren't you supposed to let this kind of stuff air out?"

No clue. Shrugging, I threw the vest over the back of a chair.

He turned away and started walking around, looking at some of the things scattered around the room. I blinked before grabbing my screwdriver and picking up where I had left off.

I was in the middle of reconnecting a microprocessor when I felt a pressure on my head and something fell into my line of sight. Raising a hand, I pulled the thing off and blinked at the baseball cap that met my eyes. I looked over at Phineas, who was looking at something else. His eyes flitted over to me, a smile tugging on his lips, and I looked back to the cap. It was a simple red and white stripe patterned one. I use to have one very similar, and briefly I wondered what happened to it before placing the cap back on my head, twisting it around so the visor was in the back.

I glanced back over at him, watching as he turned something I couldn't see over in his left hand. A pang of dread over those black lines struck me as I returned to task at hand.


	4. Thicker Than Thieves

I flinched as a spark zapped my finger. In any other situation, I would have stuck the hurt digit in my mouth for a second, but considering some of the things I've touched recently, that probably wouldn't be a wise move. Instead I tried to shake out my hand before attempting to reconnect the wire again.

Why would somebody take the time to rip out and cut through so many dang wires?

"It's on." Phineas was watching the screens in order to tell me when power was restored to them and convey it to me since I was in a somewhat awkward position halfway inside the control system.

I lightly kicked his leg as a sign to continue.

"There's no images coming from the cameras." The click of him pressing keys filled the otherwise quiet air as he tried to get it working from up there.

Shifting in order to stop something or another from stabbing me in the back, I waited to see if he could get it working. If he wasn't injured, I'd make him be the one crawling around down here. He's smaller, it would be an easier fit.

"Nothing."

Silently sighing, I started fiddling with the machinery again, banging my elbow in the process and creating an echoing bang in the cramped space.

"You okay?" I could tell he was bending down to see and I quickly shot him a thumbs up.

"So," his voice had taken on a teasing lift, "I guess you're not so happy about that growth spurt now."

Honestly, is he never going to let that go? I kicked him again, this time harder, which backfired when it threw off my balance, causing me to face plant as much as was possible in the small area.

He said something, but I wasn't really paying attention. There was something tangled up in the wires that I couldn't see from where I was before. Carefully, I angled my hand to grab it, feeling smooth wood against my fingers as I pulled out the object. Once past the wires, I tightened my grip on it while backing out of the access point.

"What's that?"

I was barely out and Phineas was already right there, dropping to the floor in front of me to see.

Reaching up, I flipped off the torch I'd attached to the baseball cap in order to see while working before holding the object out. A knife, most likely the one that had been used to cut all these wires I was now having to repair. The five inch blade had rust colored stains coating it, I didn't want to dwell on what had caused them.

I looked up from it to Phineas, taking in the thin line of his mouth, and raised an eyebrow in question.

He sighed. "It's just dawning on me, I guess."

I cued him to continue.

Phineas took a deep breath before blathering out, "We're going to have to fight our way out of here and those things are living creatures and I know we've had to go up against living things that wanted to hurt us before but not like these things and what if we have to kill one? They want to kill us apparently, but I don't think I could kill something, I know I can't, even if it wants to kill me."

Looking back at the knife, I twisted it around to where I was lightly holding the blade and held it out to him, he blinked.

"Ferb?"

"What," I started, before taking a deep breath and raising my eyes back to his. "What if it was going to kill me?"

His eyes widened and shot down to the knife.

"Would you be able to then, Phineas?" I could see the indecisiveness in his eyes.

"I- Ferb," he whined.

A pang of guilt hit my heart, but I had to know. We had been through thick and thin together and here, more than ever, I needed to be sure he would have my back just as much as I would have his. No matter what.

His voice was a whisper as he started singing. If we weren't sitting so close, I think I would have missed it. "I'll tell you up front that I've got your back, and I know that you've got mine. As long as we stick together side by side... it's gonna turn out fine."

Recognizing the song from five summers ago, I gave him a sad smile.

Squaring his jaw, he reached out, hesitantly wrapping his left hand around the handle. "I still don't want to kill something, but for you, bro, I think I could try."

Letting go of the blade, I patted his hand.

He continued staring at the knife for a few seconds before setting it down. "Did you finish fixing it?"

Shrugging, I stood up, holding a hand down to him to help him up after me.

"Once we get this up and running, we're gonna have to try finding water somewhere in this place," he said.

He had a point. We had already been here a day and humans could only go without water for a week at most.

I nodded. I'd go searching as soon as the system was up and running.


	5. I'm in a Situation

I squinted at the screen, trying to make out the image it was being sent. We had managed to get three cameras working. One appeared to be in a trashed office room, another was just showing the scratched floor of an unknown room, and the one we were looking at seemed to be a break room. The image was blurry, but there was a what looked like a vending machine in the corner. If it had stuff in it that was still good, that could help with our problem of lacking water and food.

"I'm going there."

Phineas nodded. "I'm coming with you."

I shot him a lidded look.

"What?"

"You're not coming. I don't know where that is, and you're hurt. I'm not putting you at risk."

A rare frown graced his face as he turned fully towards me. "It's not your decision."

I raised an eyebrow. Really?

"Okay, maybe it is, but what if you need help?"

I shrugged. It was a risk, but I could take care of myself. I couldn't take care of both myself and him out there, though.

"I don't like it," he complained.

Shrugging again, I shot him a look to ask what other choice there was.

He pursed his lips before sighing. "Fine. Just be careful."

I stuck the knife in my belt and nodded at Phineas to open the door. He still didn't look happy as he messed with the keypad to unlock it for me. As soon as the door had enough of a gap, I left the room, not looking back as I heard him close and lock the door behind me.

Since I was at the end of the corridor I didn't have much choice in direction as I started walking.

The red emergency lights flashed in places where they were damaged, creating an annoying strobing effect.

Snorting, I thought about how fitting the scene would look in one of those cheesy horror movies Phineas and I would stay up late to watch.

All was silent except for for my footfalls on the tile floor and the buzz of the lights.

I quickly glanced into different rooms. Some were lit up, other still cast in darkness. Considering there was light in the pictures being sent from the camera, I could cross off all of the darkened rooms. I doubt they would have vending machines on this floor anyway.

As I walked, my hand fiddled with the hilt of the knife.

Finally, I reached the room where we had first came through. Looking inside, I was half hoping to see an open portal, but there was nothing.

Sighing, I began to continue on when a hiss cut through the silence, and I froze.

I tightened my grip on the knife as I peeked over my shoulder.

The creature was on the ceiling, and I was stuck by just how human the body was despite the claws and deformed head and limbs.

Reaching down its arms, it dropped to the floor with a wet plop as it detached from the ceiling.

It just stood there on all fours. Where a person's eyes should be, its skin appeared to melt down over the area.

Maybe if I don't move, it won't know I'm here.

Its mouth opened, revealing pointed teeth before something shot out it mouth across the ten meters between us, whipping by my ear at such a close range that I could feel the air movement as it past with a whoosh, then immediately shot back into the thing's mouth.

It hit me with startling clarity. That was the creature's tongue.

That's creepy on so many levels.

Shaking it off, I cast my eyes around. It didn't look like the being was going to leave me be, I needed a way out.

The creature pushed itself up onto two legs, standing awkwardly. It appeared hunched over and to the right. A scratching sound grated at my ears as it rubbed the long claws on its hands together.

Turning my head slightly forward, I looked farther down the corridor for something, anything.

Several doors lined it, but most would more than likely led to dead ends. Then, I saw it. A lift, the doors bent outward.

I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. This was either going to be completely epic or completely idiotic.

Closing my eyes, I readied myself as the creature's footsteps fall on the floor behind me.

With a deep breath, I shot my eyes open and sprinted at the lift. The noise behind me increased, but I blocked it out, focusing solely on my goal. On where my feet would land as I moved towards it.

Reaching the doors, my foot came down half on the floor, half on empty air that filled the lift shaft. I push off with that foot, launching myself forward through it and reached out my hands, hoping for the best.

For a brief moment, I was free falling then I hit something in the middle of the shaft, my hands grasped at the cool wire, finding purchase, but still sliding down it. Gritting my teeth at the pain of the rope burn, I tried to brace my feet on it and stop myself from falling any further down the cable.

A shadow blocked the light above me and I looked up in time to see the creature dive into the shaft. Unlike me, it didn't latch onto anything, instead falling straight down. The air rushed past me as it disappeared into the darkness of the lower levels.

I didn't hear it land. This shaft couldn't possibly be that deep, could it?

Blinking once, I reached up one hand, grabbing the cable higher up and started the tedious process of climbing it.

I wouldn't return to the same level since I was already here. It would be a waste not to see what was on the levels above.

My hands slid on the wire and something wet ran down my arms. The smell filling my nose told me it was blood. I must have reopened the cuts. It was making it nearly impossible to make progress, forcing me to rely of the rubber soles of my sneakers to make any at all.

Alright, so I should have thought this out better.

Something rough and slimy rubbed against my ankle, I glanced down, but I wasn't able to make out anything in the dim red light that leaked in though the broken doors. Still, I had a feeling that I knew what it was.

It wrapped around my ankle, tightening.

Closing my eyes, I let out a sigh. I could tell where this was going.

I didn't try to fight it as I felt my leg be forcefully yanked downwards, merely letting go of the cable and hoping for the best.


	6. Whole Lot of Trouble

Freefalling does have a strange sort appeal. I know I'm falling, but it feels like I'm floating... Perhaps Buford was onto something when he said he wanted to float around like a little woodland pixie.

Shaking away thoughts of the neighborhood bully, I could still feel the thing wrapped around my ankle as I made myself relax, not particularly difficult, and bent my knees.

Glancing down, my eyes widened as I realised where I was going to land. Right next to the creature.

Covering my head with my arms, my feet hit, and I threw myself forward into a roll away from the thing.

I didn't get far as its tongue was still holding onto my ankle. Awkwardly crouched, I yanked the knife from my belt and slashed blindly at it.

The shriek the creature gave reverberated off the metal walls making me clasp my hands over my ears and grit my teeth.

Something wriggled against my ankle, and I kicked my foot out, dislodging the disgusting tongue that, apparently, had a mind of its own.

Climbing to my feet, I squinted in the dim lighting. The shrieking had died off, now being replaced by what I could only describe as a displeased growl.

My grip tightened on the knife, the smooth wooden handle slick in my bloody hand. The shadows played tricks on my eyes. The echoing noise in the closed space grated at my ears.

I resisted a groan. I would have been better off fighting it in the corridor.

Well, I'm not one to stand around and do nothing.

Charging at where I was reasonably sure the creature was, I bought the knife up to bear and stuck. Only to hit empty air. Taking a step forward, I tried again, this time a scraping rang out as the tip made contact with the metal wall.

Spinning around, I placed my back close to the wall. I didn't know where it was and while the murky red light slipping in through the cracks kept the space from being pitch black, it was not enough to see by.

Feeling something brush against my hair, I trust the blade upwards and was rewarded with another cry of pain. I allowed myself a momentary smirk before something crashed into my side, throwing me to the floor.

Pain flared up through my hip and shoulder as I failed to break my fall. I heard the click of its claws behind me as I rolled onto my back, trying to ignore the pain.

I dodged to the side just as the clawed hand came down where my chest had been.

Slashing out with the knife, I could feel it sink into the thing's flesh. With a sharp cry, it ripped its arm back. My hand slid on the wood as the knife jerked away from me with the movement. Feeling my fingers close around empty air, I lunged forward, trying to get hold of the knife again.

Instead, my hand collided with something hard and slimy.

While biting back a curse, I allowed myself to fall backwards again, hand going for my pocket.

I closed my fingers around the cool metal right as two slams rang out as the creature dropped to all fours. One deformed hand on each side of me. I looked up at it, unable to make out anything but its outline where it was blocking the light coming from above.

Something wet ran along my cheek, I tried to resist the overwhelming urge to gag as I slipped out the army knife.

Blindly flipping out the blade, I rammed my hand up, forcing the knife into the bottom of its jaw.

My ears rang at the high pitched scream it let out as I ripped out the knife and stabbed it again.

Liquid dripped down onto my face, and I pulled the knife back out once more when the creature fell silent.

I grunted as its weight collapsed on top of me.

Maneuvering my hands under its corpse, I pushed it away.

Allowing myself to simply lay there a moment, I tucked the army knife back in my pocket.

Obviously if I want to survive this, I must put more thought into my plans.

Grimacing at the feel of gunk from the creature on my skin, I sat up and wiped my sleeve over my face.

Seeing where the knife was still sticking out of the creature's arm, I grabbed the hilt and yanked it out, tucking it safely back into my belt.

I cast my eyes around the area, in the time I'd been down here, my eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness, making it little easier to see.

Throughout the ordeal, I had managed to stay to one side of what I had landed on, which was apparently good, because the creature's leg was disappearing into a hole.

It wasn't very big, possibly only large enough for these creatures to climb through. The edges jagged.

I ran my hand lightly along the border, it was easily as sharp as my knife. Casting my eyes upward, I let out a sigh before cautiously lowering myself through it.

Dropping down, I landed on something that cracked and threw off my balance.

After falling on my arse for the second time that day, I blanched at what was surrounding me. I was in what was left of the lift, the light drifted in from the broken doors, bathing the white bones in red. The smell of death hung in the confined space.

I pushed myself self up and scrambled out the lift and into the corridor. Taking deep breaths as I moved farther away, trying to get the odor out my nose but it still lingered in the air.

Rust coloured stains streaked the walls and floor, some in the form of hand prints. Picked clean bones and torn clothing littered the hall like morbid decorations.

On other levels there had been attacks, but this was where the real slaughter had happened.


	7. Door to Door

One hand clutching the knife, I walked through the gruesome scene, trying to avoid stepping on anymore bones.

Much like the other level, the doors here were ripped from their hinges and torn up.

One doorway in particular caught my attention. Door was still in one piece, open wide. Holes, bullet marks I realised, lined the door and the wall around it.

How bad of a shot were these guys?

Shrugging it off, I walked into the room. It looked a bit like the first one I'd seen in this place. Cabinets on the walls, tables lined with lab equipment. Like outside the room, much of inside had been shot up.

I moved around one of the tables. Various stains coated its surface. Cracked and chipped beakers, flasks, and test tubes covered it, along with other items broken beyond recognition.

My eyes drifted past it before slamming shut when they landed on what was on the floor. I took a deep breath before reopening my eyes.

The body lay face down. It was obviously a woman. Strands of long dark hair were still held in place by a clip despite the attack she'd sustained. There was a good sized hole in her back that the floor, discolored with bodily fluids, was visible through. One arm was gone completely-the shoulder a ragged mess of decayed muscle and fragments of cartilage-the other chewed down to the bone.

A morbid curiously gripped me, and I knelt down to grab her shoulder where it was still covered with a blackening lab coat. My fingers sunk into her flesh like it was putty. Curling my lip slightly, I cautiously rolled the corpse onto her back before allowing myself to pull my hand back.

My gaze found her face first. A single hole penetrated her forehead between her shriveled up eyes. I was almost glad that my stomach was empty as I briefly looked away.

A short chain hung around her neck with a pendent-No, a ring-hanging from it, just as tarnished and dirty as the chain.

There was a plastic ID card still clipped to her coat, and I ripped it off as I stood. I couldn't read it, there was too much gunk plastered to its covering. I rubbed it on my already ruined slacks before giving it another attempt.

Nope. Still can't.

With a sigh, I shoved it into a pocket. A gut feeling telling me it might come in handy in the future.

I glanced around, looking for anything else that might be useful. Walking by one of the counters, a labeled jar caught my eye, and I picked it up.

Gastrotheca cornuta. I blinked at the label. Were they experimenting with amphibians? That would explain the long tongues...

The glass jar was fill some sort of preservative that made it impossible to see the frog that was contained inside.

Setting the container back, I finished my inspection of the area and left room to search some the other ones.

Door after door, now I know there's nothing useful in store. 

I needed to find a way back up the lift shaft, even though my hands had stopped bleeding, I still didn't think I'd be able to climb back up that cable.

Walking up to the last door on that side of the hallway, I blinked. It appeared to be a trashed locker room. Once white lab coats were discarded across the floor along with some other items.

A few coats still hung in destroyed lockers. Glancing between the bars, hangers, and cloth, an idea sparked in my mind as I shoved the knife in my belt and replaced it with my screwdriver.

Twirling the tool in my hand, I spent a few seconds complicating if this plan would work any better than the last.

It's still better than nothing.

I got to work.

It was a slow, tiring process that almost made me wish Phineas was here to help me, and the end result was in no way pretty, but it was usable.

Running my hands along the makeshift rope, I tugged on it, testing the strength before tying the free end around my waist. Taking some more strips of cloth, I wrapped up my hands.

Knife in one hand, makeshift grappling hook in the other, I poked my head out into the corridor. Seeing none of the creatures, I dashed to the lift and carefully maneuvered through the piles of bone to the hole in its roof.

Shoving the knife back in my belt and looping the hook on it as well, I jumped up, grabbing the edge of the hole. I pulled myself up as quietly as possible, which still consisted of several echoing bangs and grunts.

Hopefully they'll just think the noise was caused by one of them.

Stepping around the creature's corpse, I grabbed the grappling hook and threw it up towards the doors of the level I'd started on.

I flinched at the loud clang it made on contact.

Yanking on the rope, it gave a little but didn't come loose and the lab coat rope didn't break. I wrapped my hands around it, lifting my feet off the roof of the lift. When it didn't come apart, I dropped back down.

Taking a deep breath, I jumped up, grabbing the rope as high up as I could, and started to climb, weaving the lab coat rope in between my feet to make it easier.

A bang drifted up from below, and I forced myself faster, heart pounding in my chest and ears. I was not up to fighting another one of those things in this shaft.

My hand found the edge of the floor, and I started. Shaking off my surprise that I had reached it sooner than I'd anticipated, I climbed out the shaft and unhooked the hook from from it caught on the door.

Untying the rope, I bundled it up as I walked before shoving the whole thing into my pocket.

In truth, reinstalling Gallifreyan technology into my clothes every time Mum bought me new ones was a bit of a pain but it was so worth it for the bigger on the inside pockets.

I came to a screeching halt when I saw the control room door.


	8. One I Can't Deny

There was one of the creatures in front of the door to the control room and, for the second time in my life, I had the urge to scream in frustration.

Instead I channeled it into something much more satisfying. Pulling out the knife, I whistled, and when the being's head turned towards me, I let it fly.

The blade nailed it in between its skin covered eyes, sinking into the moist flesh and forcing its way through bone. Watching the creature fall with a wet thud, my lips tugged up in a smirk.

That was almost too easy.

Approaching it, I leaned down and ripped the knife out. I grimaced at the gunk clinging to the blade as I stood up. Eyeing the wall, I tried to angle the blade in a way to wipe some of it off onto the wall. It didn't work very well.

Giving up, I knocked on the door. "Phineas?"

After a moment, the door opened a crack for a single blue eye to peak out at me.

Then door practicality flew open and his hands grasped my arm, yanking me inside.

He let go of me to close to door. "Ferb?" His voice was faint.

Spinning around, I half expected there to be another creature outside the doorway, but Phineas was just standing there, looking at the corpse of the one I'd killed.

He weakly gestured to it. "Did... did you...?"

I sighed and walked over to him, pushing the door closed myself, blocking his view of it.

Phineas blinked a few times before turning his head and raising his eyes to mine.

"I did what needed to be done." Not waiting for him to reply, I walked over to one of the chairs and collapsed into it, leaning my head back as I closed my eyes.

His footfalls fell loudly on the floor as he came over to me. "Are you okay?"

Am I okay? I'm hungry. I'm thirsty. I'm exhausted. My side is bruised to hell. My hands ache and itch, but if I scratch them, the cuts are just going to reopen. So no, I'm not 'okay.' But I'm still alive and you're still alive. So it's not all bad. I shot him a thumbs up.

"I was getting worried," he continued. "Did you find anything?"

Not opening my eyes, I pulled the grapple hook from my pocket and held it out.

"You made this?" The weight of it disappeared from my hand. "Is this rope made from pieces of clothes?"

"Lab coats," I muttered.

Phineas let out an impressed whistle, and I opened my eyes enough to peak at him from under my eyelashes as he played with it in his hands. "Why'd you need a grappling hook?"

I just wanted to ignore it, tell him to be quiet and let me go to sleep, but something about this scene was sending off signals in my brain that I'm overlooking something important.

"Ferb?" His brows were knitted together, and he dropped the grappling hook to the floor as he edged closer to me.

My eyes widened as I shot up straight. "Your hand!"

Flinching back, Phineas let out a breath. "Yeah," he said, raising his right hand. "I was wondering when you'd notice."

Grabbing his hand, I pulled him closer to look at his upper arm. The black lines had faded to a dull gray but also extended farther along his arm, the wounds themselves appeared weeks old already.

"I don't understand it either." The unease was clear in his tone. "But it's good it's healing and stuff, right?"

My lips set a grim line. Why couldn't things be normal for us just once?

Of course of the answer was obvious: because we aren't normal.

Forcing my features to relax, I gave him a nod.

The tension fell away from him, and I looked away.

"I took some of the chairs apart. It's not my best work but it might be more comfortable." He used the fact that I was still holding his hand to pull me from the seat and to a spot on the floor where he had used the cushioned parts of some of the chairs to make a something vaguely resembling a bed. Smiling, he left go of my hand and made a 'ta-da' motion towards it.

Giving him a tired thumbs up, I turned to head back to the chair when his hands clasped around my arm, stopping me.

"Where are you going?"

Blinking at him over my shoulder, I pointed to the chair.

Frantically shaking his head, he tried to pull me down to the makeshift bed. After a few futile attempts by him to move me, I complied and sat on the cushions.

"Lay down." He shoved at my shoulders, and I raised a brow. "The bed's for both of us."

Rolling my eyes, I laid down on my back. It was more comfortable than the floor, but it made me long for my bed at home.

Phineas plopped down next to me, throwing an arm over my chest and cuddling up against my side. I wrapped an arm around his back, I could feel him let out a sigh.

I stared at the ceiling. When we were little, back when our parents first married, we shared a bed for the first several months. Even once Phineas got a new bed, we'd still snuggle up in the same one on occasion, normally if one of us had a nightmare. But as we got older, those occasions happened less and less often, until it stopped completely.

I smiled, tightening my grip on him. I had missed it in a way. Even if we are teenagers, and its awkward and a bit of a childish thing to do. And even if his pointy nose and elbows always stick me in the side while I'm trying to sleep.

"'Night, Ferbooch," he muttered. "We'll get out of here tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Phineas." If only.


	9. Will You Share in This Nightmare

I tapped the microwave timer for two minutes.

"I'm surprised you don't have an invention just for making popcorn."

Laughing lightly, I glanced over to the young woman leaning on the door frame. "We did, but it was hit by a green beam and turned into actual popcorn."

She let out a small laugh before leaving the kitchen, muttering something about how she remember that inator. Deciding I had plenty time before the microwave went off, I followed her to the den.

Tossing her long brunette hair over her shoulder, she picked up some DVDs off the coffee table and held one out, waving it back and forth. "I can't believe you own Dead Batteries."

I shrugged, taking it from her. "It's better than its prequel, Batteries That Work."

"Yeah. My dad made me watch that. It was so boring." She held up the other two cases. "So, you wanna watch The Grievance 2: The Gripe or Stumbleberry Finkbat and the Whining Wand of the Turtle Wizard?"

Glimpses of blood splattered walls filled my vision for a heartbeat, and I blinked. Strange. "I'm not in the mood for horror."

"Stumbleberry Finkbat it is." Handing me the DVD, she gave me a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll get the popcorn, you set it up."

I nodded, turning to watch her leave. How she put up with wearing such tight fitting leather in this summer heat was beyond me. Tilting my head, my gaze drifted southward. She does look good in it though...

My mind wandered to something much less PG, and I cleared my throat while I shook away the thoughts, dearly hoping I wasn't as red as I felt, as she vanished from my view. I faced the telly, turning everything on and inserting the disk.

I was waiting for it to load when a loud smash came from the kitchen. "Nessa?"

No response. Frowning, I started towards the kitchen. "Nessa? Everything alright?"

Gasping, coughing drifted to me, and I sped up. Reaching the doorway, I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me.

She was several feet off the floor, feet kicking. My eyes trailed up to where something was wrapped around her neck. Her hands grabbing at it. Trying to pull it away. And past that to the creature perched on the ceiling. It looked at me and began to melt into the ceiling, raising her up higher as it went.

"Vanessa!" I lunged forward, trying to grab her feet, but she was still kicking, and I couldn't grab onto her as she kept being pulled higher. The coughing was getting louder.

"Vanessa!"

I blinked. It was gone. She was gone. The kitchen was gone. Instead I was staring at a floor bathed in red light, my breath coming in pants.

It was just a dream.

But the coughing was still there.

I looked down to where Phineas still lay. He was on his side, eyes squeezed shut, whole body racked with coughs.

Crap.

"Phineas." I rubbed his back. I didn't know what else to do.

After what felt like forever, the coughing died down, and he was left taking deep breaths. He rolled over onto his back and blinked up at me, rubbing a hand over his mouth.

"I'm okay," he managed, his voice raspier than usual.

Pursing my lips, I shook my head. The blood smeared across his lips and chin was just the newest proof of that he wasn't.

I had been trying to deny the facts but it was obvious. He was sick. What if he gets worse? What if he... How would I explain to Mum?

His hand touched my arm, the warmth of it noticeable even though my sleeve. "Ferb, I'm alright. Really."

I need to get my emotions back in check. Forcing myself to take deep breath, I ran my hands over my face. I needed a plan.

Or I could continue as we normally do and just wing it.

Climbing to my feet, I heard Phineas scrambling to his as well.

As soon as I stood up straight, my vision swam, and I stumbled. I slammed a palm against my forehead, and Phineas' hands grabbed my arm again, this time to steady me.

I was wondering when I'd start feeling the effects of not having any water, or food, for over twenty-four hours.

Lowing my hand, I looked down at Phineas, whose eyes were wide as he stared at me.

I gave him a weak smile but it faded as quickly it came. "I'm going back out there."

"Now?"

We didn't have time to just sit around. And after that, I don't think I'll be getting any more sleep. I nodded.

"I want to come with you this time." Dropping go of my arm, he moved to stand in front of me.

I shook my head. I wasn't going to let him put himself in danger.

"Ferrrb," he drew out my name, expression pleading. "I get it, you don't want me to get hurt, but I don't want you to get hurt either. And come on, you know we work better as a team."

He was coughing up blood, how can I allow him to come with me?

He stuck out his lower lip, eyes going big, and why must all little brothers be born with such a manipulative ability as puppy-dog-eyes? So unfair.

"Let me come with you."

I closed my eyes. I will not give in. I will not give in.

"Please?"

I peeked at him through lidded eyes, he was still giving me that look.

You're not going to give up are you?

"Nope," he said, and I rolled my eyes.

He continued to stare at me, and I stared back. Finally, he raised an eyebrow.

"Fine!" I threw up my hands. If I didn't, he'd probably follow me anyways.

Grinning brightly, Phineas bounced on his heels. "Thanks, Ferb!"

"But you will do what I say and not wander off to go look at anything," I ordered, pointing a finger at him.

He gave a mock salute, smiling unfading. "Yes, Sir."

Rolling my eyes at his antics, I started towards the door.

"Hey Ferb."

I stopped and looked back at him. That grin still plastered on his face.

"I know what we're gonna do today."


	10. Ripped to Shreds

I pulled my Swiss army knife from the depths of my pocket and flipped out the blade. "One of those things comes at you, you stab it, okay?"

Snatching the knife, Phineas rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot."

"Really? Because wanting to go out there seems pretty idiotic to me," I muttered, turning away in order to unlock the door.

"...Does that make you an idiot then?"

I shot him a look while pushing the door open. I poked my head out. Nothing left, nothing right.

Stepping out slowly, I pulled the knife from my belt. Ears tuned to the slightest noise, eyes scanning for movement. Phineas' footsteps sounded on the floor as he came out behind me, and together we pushed the door almost closed but not enough to engage the automatic lock.

Taking the lead I started down the hall, glancing into the rooms as I passed. I-we needed answers as to what was going on.

Since I had already glanced into most of these rooms last time I was out here, I didn't stop until we passed the lift. The ripe smell of decaying flesh filled my nose as we reached a door barely hanging on its hinges.

Casting a look back to my brother, I gestured to the room, he nodded and we made our way carefully inside.

He gagged as the rot hit him full force as he past the doorway. A corpse in a the tattered remains of a security uniform stretched out on the tilted floor, chest ripped open and organs thrown around the once white floor, some with bite marks taken out of them.

Swallowing, I looked past the body where a table stood, covered with beakers and notes of what they had been working on. I step forward to get a better look when I heard a gasp come from Phineas.

Swinging around, I expected one of those things to be attacking him but instead he just stood there, head down, hand on chest.

"Phineas?"

Another gasp and an odd jerky movement racked his body as dread fill my gut. Suddenly his head shot up, eyes gazed as he stared at me.

"Phineas?" I tried again.

His head cocked to the side. I swallowed.

The army knife slipped from his slack grip. Hitting the floor with a clink that resonated like thunder in the stillness.

He took a lurching step forward. Taking a matching step back, I bumped into the table. The cold metal edge digging into my skin. The knife in my hand suddenly feeling all too real.

He lunged. Bringing up my left arm, I caught him across the chest. Pressing against me, he knocked me onto the table.

Glass broke. Crushed under my weight. I gritted my teeth as he continued to push me into the glass. It dug into my back. The red light glinted off his eyes. His teeth snapped at me, centimeters from my nose. His hands clawed at my arms.

"Phineas!" I forced out. Looking into his eyes. Trying to see something. Trying to see him.

All I saw was a wildness in his eyes. Demonic red from the lights. My heart pounded in my ears.

I slammed my eyes shut for a brief moment. Forgive me.

Looking up at his snarling face, I brought my right hand around. Flinching as his flesh gave under the deadly blade.

His anguished cry shook me as his body went stiff. Eyes locked onto mine. My throat clenched.

_Oh, God._

He blinked slowly.

"'erb?"

_No, no, no-_

The confusion in his eyes. The pain.

_What have I done?_

He wasn't pushing against me anymore. Merely leaning in order to keep himself up.

I couldn't move. My hand felt like it was burning where it still held the knife.

"You-" he cut off. Confusion morphing into disbelief.

He jerked away from me, and I let the knife leave my hand. Stumbling backwards, he watched me with that same look of disbelieving horror.

I opened my mouth. The words wouldn't come. I didn't know what I'd say anyway.

Reaching the door, he spun on his heel, disappearing from my sight. Knife still protruding from his back. Blood already spreading across his yellow shirt.

I tried to stand up, to chase after him, but my legs were mush, and I collapsed to the floor.

_Should I even try? He was horrified by me. By what I'd done._

Sniffling, I clenched my fists and my eyes found the dropped pocket knife.

With an wordless cry, I punched the floor.

_I am such an idiot!_

Click.

My whole body shook.

Click.

I looked up.

One of the monsters was standing in the hallway.

Narrowing my eyes at it, I felt something snap.

Click.

Not looking away, I reached out and snatched up the army knife. I forced my legs into action, shakily standing up.

Click.

It was in the room.

I lunged. Thrusting the short blade into its chest.

Ripping the knife out, I dodged under the swipe of its arms.

Its screams were muted to my ears as I dug the knife into the creature's throat.

The scream turned to gurgles. Thick blood ran down my hand.

Yanking the blade out, I stabbed it in the head.

It started to fall, and I shoved it backwards. Following its descent, I grabbed the hilt in both hands and continued hacking into the creature. Hands precise in their movement even as the rest of me trembled.

My vision blurred, and I blinked back the tears before my vision suddenly snapped back into focus, and I was finally really seeing the thing underneath me.

I blenched. The army knife clattering against the floor while I shoved myself away from the creature.

Stumbling backwards, my foot caught on something, and I tumbled to the floor.

My breath was coming out in pants. I couldn't tell if it was do to adrenaline or fear.

Snapping my eyes shut, I dug my hands into my hair.

_Maybe there's something wrong with me too._

_Maybe Phineas is better off on his own in this place._ I felt it wasn't true. That he wouldn't last on his own here. I barely could. And I hadn't been stabbed in the back by my own brother.


	11. Feel Like I can't See

Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself before sitting up. My shirt felt like it was plastered to my back, and I reached to touch it. Whatever was on my back was wet, but the consistency was wrong for blood, and I shivered as an electrical shock ran through me at the touch. My fingers found the sharp edge of glass, and I yanked sliver out and tossed it across the room before standing up.

Walking towards the door, I stopped to pick up the pocket knife, trying to avoid looking at the bloody mess that was the creature.

As I reached the doorway, my vision swam, and I reached out, curling my fingers around the edge of the door frame. I raised my other hand to my head, the cool, metal handle of the knife soothing against my forehead.

Minus the buzz of the lights, it was quiet. Somehow, it was disturbing me more now than the other times there had been almost complete silence.

_Because Phineas is out here, and you know he doesn't do well with silence._

I tried to swallow but my mouth was too dry. Keeping one hand against the wall, I started to make my way back to the control room as black spots danced before my eyes.

Burning pain shot through my back like I'd reclined against a hot stove.

The hallway was becoming nothing but a red blur obscured with black. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear up my vision. My hand lost contact with the wall, and I squinted, feeling for the other side of the doorway.

_What is wrong with me?_

I flinched as my hand banged into the broken door before feeling my way around it.

_How far is the control room?_

Abandoning the slow process of using the wall, I sped up, holding out my hands in the hope to not run into anything as I used my best judgment to keep moving in a straight line in the world of haze.

I bit back a curse as my hand once again collided with something, sharp metal biting into my palm as another cut was added to it with a sting. Trying to ignore it, I stumbled around the obstacle.

With every step my feet felt heavier. Like someone was pouring rocks into my sneakers.

A shiver racked my body.

_How can I be cold when I'm burning?_

In between steps, a sound caught my attention, and I froze. It was a faint and spaced out dripping. I swayed and clasped my head with a squelch from the blood leaking from my hand. Dimly, I realised the sound was my own blood dripping onto the floor.

_I wonder if I'll have permanent damage to my hands after all of this._

It should have an alarming thought considering how much I rely on my hands. It felt strange that the thought didn't faze me, like it was nothing more than mere observation as I restarted my awkward walk down the hallway.

_Either this corridor has grown, or I'm moving much slower than I thought._

As soon as the last word past through my head, my hands hit something solid. The cool metal undamaged aside form a few claw marks as I ran my hands along it, feeling for the crack we had left. Part of me hoped I wouldn't find it, that Phineas had come back to the room and closed the door. That part was disappointed when my fingers slid into the crack.

Another wave of dizziness came upon me, and I leaned my head on the door for a moment, waiting for it to pass. The coldness of it causing more shivers to run through me.

Once I felt like I wasn't about to tumble over, I pulled at the door. It slid slower than before, as if it was somehow heavier now. Or I was weaker.

Unable to open it any farther, I attempted to squeeze through the small opening. Easier said than done as my back raked against the door frame. A hiss forcing its way past my clenched teeth as the burning was mixed with crushing pressure.

A fleeting thought drifted past, wishing I were a little slimmer, quickly replaced with the wish I could have managed to open the door another inch or two.

My feet and hands pushed at the floor and wall as I painfully worked my way though, the door giving a little more under the strain. After what felt like hours, I finally got past. It was so sudden that without the pressure it was putting on me, I collapsed to my hands and knees, taking deep breaths.

The breaths turned to coughing and a metallic taste filled my mouth. A thick liquid ran down my bottom lip and chin.

Images of Phineas' coughing earlier came to mind, the blood running from his mouth, and I yearned to be able to see if the liquid was red. The thought that it might be sent a chill up my spine.

The red blur from the lights was becoming darker while I turned around, not bothering to even try climbing to my feet. I felt my way back to the door and pressed my hands against it, pushing, my bloody hands slid on the undented metal.

My chest clenched, and I gave up on the door. Sitting back on my knees, I ran my hands through my hair before doubling over as a violent coughing fit overtook me, forcing me to brace myself up with my hands.

The tightening in my chest was worsening, my back was a throbbing burn, and lightheadedness was invading me. I closed my eyes, not that it made much difference as my vision was almost completely black.

My arms trembled under my weight while I gasped for air after the intense coughing. The air wasn't coming. Was my wind pipe was blocked? Blood pounded in my ears, growing more distorted with every passing beat.

_Am I dying?_

It would make sense, I couldn't breathe, my heart felt like it was beating much too fast.

_I don't want to die here._

_But does it matter? Phineas is probably dead already, why not join him?_

_Dead by your hand. If you die, do you really believe you will be joining him?_

I didn't have time to consider it as my arms gave out. Too bad I couldn't have blacked out before hitting the floor.


	12. What I Deserve

_I'm either somehow still alive, or this is hell._

Bracing my hands on the floor, I attempted to push myself up. My back screamed at the movement. Spots flashed in front of my eyes before my arms gave out halfway up, dropping me back to the tile.

I tried to swallow, but my mouth was bone-dry reminding me that I hadn't drank anything in... I don't even know how long.

_How long was I out?_

The fire in my back had been extinguished, but aches had settled deep into my muscles. Payment for the strain I'd placed on them lately.

I turned my head to the side, cheek pressing against the warm floor, and was rewarded with a view of the closed door. Something about that felt wrong. Blinking slowly, I tried to kick my brain into gear. Easier said than done when my cerebrum was attempting to pound its way out through my frontal bone.

_Did I close the door?_

The answer took its sweet time to come to me. I hadn't.

_Who...?_

As far as I was aware, there was only one other person here. My heart sped up. With a new burst of energy, I managed to climb to my knees, hands braced on on the floor to help keep me there.

"Ph-" I coughed, knives running up the inside of my throat at the action. Squeezing my eyes shut, I waited for the sensation to pass.

A thought hit me. I hadn't looked at the rest of the room, could he be sitting there? Watching me suffer? Payback for what I did? It wouldn't be like him. He's too good for that.

Or maybe he managed to close the door before he bled out, and his corpse is lying on the makeshift bed. That would be worse.

My breaths became difficult forcing me to take huge gulps of air that didn't feel like they were reaching my lungs.

I wanted to look. But my head wouldn't turn. My eyes wouldn't open.

_Just look!_

My eyes snapped open, flickering around the room. No Phineas.

Using the wall as leverage, I awkwardly stumbled to my feet.

Where was he? He had to have been the one that closed the door.

My knees shook, electricity shot through my legs, and I started to sink back down before catching myself on the wall. Leaning on it caused my back to throb. I groaned.

_I'm never going to get anywhere like this._

Using the wall as a support, I slowly inched my way along it until I was as close to the makeshift bed as I could get while still touching it.

I took a deep breath before stepping away from the wall. Five swaying steps towards the bed and my right leg gave up. I broke my fall with my arms, jarring them and for a brief moment, my vision went black as the pain became overwhelming. I couldn't stop from crying out. It sounded weak to my ears.

Somehow, I managed to crawl to the bed and, with some awkwardness, climb onto it. I was out of breath as I tried to find a position that didn't shoot electrical shocks through my veins.

_Is this my punishment? The penance I must pay?_

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

_Can't claim I don't deserve it._

Maybe one of those creatures will manage to break down the door and put me out of my misery. It was a stupid thought. Even in torment, I didn't seriously want to die. Especially if Phineas might be alive somehow. My intelligence told me he was dead, that he couldn't have survived, but everything else fought against it. He was still out there. He had to be.

_But is he same? He is still himself?_

The questions were whispered in my mind before darkness once again claimed me.


	13. Nerves are Shot

When I woke up again, I just laid there for a moment. There wasn't any pain and for a minute I wondered if what happened could have been nothing more than a horrid nightmare. But I couldn't deny that Phineas wasn't laying next to me, and that he might have merely gotten up already seemed like wishfully thinking. Besides, it felt too real to have been a dream. Not that I'd never had such a realistic dream before. But that had been about killer robots and a dictator and doppelgangers and other things that were so blurred in my memory that I couldn't pin point what they were. A frown pulled at my lips, I hadn't thought about that in years.

Resigning myself to fact that I was going to have to do something, I opened my eyes and glanced around the empty room. I ran my hands over my face before pulling them away in confusion and wiggling my fingers.

Numbness filled them at the movement. Not really uncomfortable, just strange. I sat up. It was as though my limbs had fallen asleep but without the pins and needles that came with that.

I rolled my shoulders. The feeling went past my limbs, filling my entire body. Even replacing the aches. The only thing that wasn't just numb was a slight stinging in my back.

It was annoying, but at least I could move. The whys were at the edges of my mind, and I didn't particularly want to answer them. I stood up, pushing back the questions. I could deal with what was going on with myself later.

I jumped as unexpected music cut through the silence.

_"I'm not Roxanne, I'm not Eileen, I'm not Sharo-na!"_

Recognizing the custom ringtone, I hastily tried to dig the mobile phone out my pocket, accidentally pulling several other items out of it in the process.

_"And I don't wanna study, work or stay at home-a"_

My numb fingers fumbled the phone, dropping it. The ringtone cut off suddenly as I managed to catch the phone before it hit the floor.

"No!"

_If Mum could call me, maybe I can get it to call out?_

Looking at the phone, I blinked. The screen was black. My eyes flickered to the reflection being shown, and I almost dropped it again. It wasn't a prefect mirror, not even close, but it was good enough to show the amount of blood streaking my face and hair. Raising one hand, I rubbed at the dyed blood that coated my cheek. Only a little of it flaked off at the harsh treatment.

Giving up, I switch to running my fingers though my hair, trying to break up the dried blood. It looked so dark in the reflection, almost brown, far from its normal green.

I needed to see something familiar in my appearance because, right now, I didn't recognise myself. My breath quickened as I looked at my own eyes, because they had to be the same. Right? I traced the size and shape. The small deformity of my right eye, making it slightly larger than the left. The things that couldn't be changed with a spattering of blood. Before moving to my actual eyes, and immediately looked away at what I saw there.

_I'll deal with that later as well._

I activated the phone, ready to try to call Mum back. But there were no bars. I bit the inside of my cheek. If I hadn't been so focused on my own appearance, would I have been able to seize an opportunity to make the call?

_What would I have said to her anyway? 'Hey Mum, you know how you never believe us when we tell you what we're doing? Well, we went to an alternate dimension and guess what? I stabbed Phineas in the back!' Yeah, right! I yanked at my hair, pacing the length of the room. This is all my fault! I should have insisted we build the time travel pizzeria._

Clenching my empty fist, my nails dug into the cut skin, it didn't even hurt, and I hurled the phone away. It hit the seat cushion bed, bouncing but not breaking at the rough landing.

_And I definitely should not have stabbed him! I-I should have knocked him out. Or... or..._

"Fuck!"

The word slipped out, and I clamped my hands over my mouth, eyes going wide. The word seemed to echo in the space. But I knew it was just my imagination. I'd never said that word before, Mum and Father were quite strict when it came to cursing, the worst I'd ever uttered before was 'shit' and even that was on rare occasions.

Lowering my hands, I shook my head at my own ridiculousness. It was just a word. A bad word that Mum and Father would be disappointed to hear me use, but they weren't here. It was still just a word.

_Why am I even allowing myself to dwell on it at all?_

_Because it's a distraction._

I took a step forward, and my foot kicked something. I looked down. A part of the remote. It must have fallen out my pocket. I picked it up. If I could have, I would have rebuilt it, but it wasn't that simple. The remote was powered by a small amount of pizzazium infinionite and keyed onto the portal in our dimension. Without the portal to guide it, rebuilding the remote would be useless. And while building a new portal would be easy with the right materials, it would take roughly eight million gigawatts of energy to power, which is enough to overload a power grid, if I had access to a working power grid.

_Why am I rehashing information I already know? As soon as the thought past my mind, I rolled my eyes. Because it was another thing to distract me from having to thinking about what I did. I can't keep allowing myself to drift off. I need to find him._

I stuffed the part back in my pocket and, after a moment of hesitation, fetched the mobile phone as well before heading to the door. It slid open with ease this time. Perhaps the frequent usage was loosening it.

Walking out into the corridor, I didn't bother closing it behind me. My eyes scanned the floor. If Phineas had been here, there would have to be blood unless he managed to stop the bleeding somehow.

Walking towards the room where... it happened, the buzz of the lights grated at my ears, louder than the other times I'd come through here. I was almost at the room when I realised my own footfalls sounded weirdly quiet in comparison then I caught sight the drops of blood, and it didn't matter.

I sped up, following the irregular trail before it stopped. There was no body, no sign of him ever having been there other than the drops of blood that still glinted in the red light.


	14. Feeling I'm Sinking

_How can it just stop?_

It didn't make sense. There had to be something.

Click.

I spun, eyes darting around while my hand went for my Swiss army knife. Slipping it out, I waited for one of those things to burst out though a doorway.

With every passing second, I grew more uneasy. I was wasting time, but could I risk turning my back?

I reached behind me, finding the edge of a doorway with my hand. Glancing over my shoulder, I didn't see anything and carefully backed into the room.

My heel caught on something, and I almost tripped. I looked down. A creature lay on the floor. Its chest ripped open. Blackish blood pooled around it, still wet.

_What did this?_

I blinked.

_Is there something worse than these things here?_

A shadow shot past the doorway. I raised the knife. My vision blurred for a second, and I blinked a few times.

The lights seemed to be getting brighter, and I squinted as they stung my eyes. Then, as quickly as it started, the lights were back to normal. My heart pounded in my ears.

_What was that?_

Turning away from the door, my eyes fell on a sink set into the counter against the wall. I licked my dry lips. It couldn't possible be that simple.

_What do I have to lose?_

Stepping over the corpse, I kept glancing back at the hall as I made my way to the sink.

The handle turned with ease. Gushing came from the long unused pipes. I stepped back, scrunching up my nose as dark red liquid shot out the spout. The metallic smell filling the air.

My first thought was blood. I watched as the sink started to fill up with it, the drain blocked, and I looked away.

The smell faded, disappearing, and I frowned, glancing back at it. The sink was empty expect for a small amount of clear water gathering at the bottom around the drain. The water coming out was just as clear.

_Must... must have been rust._

After a moment of hesitation, I leaned forward and shoved my head under the flow. I watched as red tinted water ran down the drain as it washed the blood away. Setting down the army knife, I started scrubbing at my hair and face with my hands, my nails. The water turned darker.

I kept at it until my skin was raw, and even then, I had the urge to continue scouring it. I could still feel the blood coating my hands. My blood.

...Phineas' blood.

I took a deep breath that led to me inhaling some water and coughing before tilting my head to let some water run into my mouth. It tasted off. But I gulped it down, savoring the sensation of it running down my parched throat.

Once I'd drank my fill, I just let the water run over my head again. My eyes closed. The water was warm. Soothing.

It was running down my neck, soaking my shirt. Causing the stinging to transform into burning as it hit the cuts. My hands splayed out on the sides of the sink as I gasped and shivered.

I stayed like that until the burning became too intense, then I pulled away and turned off the faucet. Running a hand through my wet hair to push it back from my forehead, I picked up the army knife before turning around.

My eyes widened. A creature stood only meters from me. It wasn't like the others. If I still had any doubts that these things were once human-which I didn't really-this erased them.

It was obviously female. The curves of her body still there, despite being emaciated. Ribs bulging under her transparent skin. Matted, filthy hair fell around her deformed face. She had no lips. Her rotten, blackened teeth completely visible. Her eyes were all white, but I was sure she was looking straight at me.

She took an unsteady step forward and nearly fell over at the movement. I looked down at her legs. They were twisted. The knees touching and grinding together with each awkward step. Her nose twitched. She appeared to be smelling the air.

I actually felt bad for her. She didn't look deadly. Not like the others.

Even as she got closer, I didn't move. Just watched. Wheeze like breaths came from her.

_She's pitiful._

Reaching out, her hand brushed my own before she finally tumbled over sideways. Head banging against the floor so hard that I could hear something crack.

I knelt down next to her as her head turned towards me. Those eyes, possibly sightless before definitely were now. One hand felt blindly for me, slapping the floor inches from my foot. Her mouth open, the jaw crooked. Broken in the fall.

Adjusting my grip on the small knife, I lifted it over her head and drove the blade in though her ear.

She fell still. There was no light in her eyes to fade, but I imagined that I saw it anyway.


	15. Clues and Puzzles

Why did it feel different to end her than it did the other ones? Was it because I felt bad for her? Did it matter?

I sighed while rinsing off the blade. It didn't do anything to the older blood stains, but it removed the gunk, and I didn't really want brain matter in my pocket.

Turning the faucet back off, I shook the blade to get rid of the excess water clinging to it.

I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms as I eyed the two corpses.

_Now what?_

There were no leads. I could finish searching the level, but I had a gut feeling that I wouldn't find him here. If it was right, it meant he somehow managed to get onto another floor, which raised questions considering how much trouble I had accomplishing that task. And I believe Phineas to be smart enough not to jump into an open lift shaft.

I dug my phone out my pocket and checked the signal. Still nothing. It was too bad. If I could call him, it would really simplify things.

Tucking the phone away, I stepped over the body at my feet. Grimacing at the squish caused when my foot landed in some blood.

_Oh, well, the rest of my outfit's already ruined, why not add my shoes to that list?_

I walked around the other corpse in order to avoid stepping in any more blood.

The lift wasn't far. Wrapping a hand around the edge of the twisted doors, I leaned into the open space and chewed on my lip.

_Is it worth taking the risk of calling out?_

I pulled the torch from my pocket and shone it around the shaft. There was a smear of red near the ceiling. It still looked slightly wet.

_Ceiling height is roughly three meters, there's normally twelve to fourteen inches between floors. With my height and arm reach... I would probably be able to reach it if I jump, but Phineas... I can't see him being able to make that._

_But the creatures here had blood that's close to black in colour. If it's not from Phineas, what's it from?_

Switching out the light for the makeshift grappling hook, I moved to the very edge of the floor before carefully turning around. I looked down. _I survived that fall once, if I fall, I can_ probably _survive it again._

I swung the lab coat rope around a few times before launching it upwards. There was no bang as it landed on the floor above, and I pulled on it. For a moment, it slid before latching onto something. Taking a deep breath, I lifted my feet off the floor and braced them on the makeshift rope. _I am not going to fall._ A rip reached my ears, and my eyes shot up. _Shit. I'm going to fall._

The rope gave. I tried to jump back through the doorway. It was actually more of an awkward lunge that ended with me getting the wind knocked out of me when I landed with my legs dangling off the edge.

 _Ow._ I rolled onto my back and pulled my legs up, both to remove them from the shaft and so I could rub my thighs where they'd hit the floor. _Great, two more bruises..._

Once the slight pain faded, I got back to my feet and stared at the ceiling. I'd lost the rope. A sigh escaped me. _Would it be too much to hope there's a stairwell on this floor I can take?_

Walking back to the edge of the floor, I looked up. A small part of the rope still hung down. Not enough to be useful, and I wasn't sure I'd trust grabbing it after that anyway.

Bending my legs, I took a deep breath and jumped; fingers reaching for the lip of the next floor. I managed to get the tips of them over the edge before gravity kicked in, and I grunted as all my weight was placed on them.

With a bit of a struggle, I managed to get one arm up onto the floor and used it to help lift myself up and then crawled the rest of the way onto the floor, where I let myself collapse. My fingers felt stiff. I rolled onto my back and repeatedly bent my fingers, trying to rid myself of the sensation. Letting out a sigh, I glanced around.

This level was different. Not in an overly obvious way, but in a way that after spending so much time on the lower levels was easily noticeable.

There was carpet underneath me for one. A nice change from the cold tile floors. Though I was sure there was just as much blood and grime ground into the carpet as there was covering the hard flooring. Some photos still hung on the walls. Others lay on the floor.

Carefully, I climbed to my feet. I walked over to one of the pictures. The glass was dirty-a mix of dust and who knows what else-obscuring the image to where all that remained visible was a few pairs of legs and part of a large building in the background.

I picked up one the fallen frames. Blood stains coated the glass. It was a type of award for some biology achievement for a something Richardson.

Mentally filing the name away, I dropped the award back to the floor. What glass was left intact shattered on impact.

I walked down the hallway. Very few of the doors here showed any damage. Most were open showing what looks like office and file rooms beyond. One wooden door in particular appeared far more torn up than the others, more closely resembling the ones below. I entered that room.

It was trashed. The only thing that wasn't was a solid desk with a mobile phone sitting undisturbed in the very center.

I blinked at it before cautiously walking up to the desk. Claw marks gouged its surface. If video games had taught me anything, it's that objects that stand out normally contain some sort of useful info or lore. But this wasn't a video game so instead it was just weird.

My hand hovered over the phone.

_Oh, just pick it up!_

Flinching, I grabbed the phone. The cracks in its red case dug into my hand as my thumb brushed over its screen. I barely suppressed a jump when it flared to life. The picture of a young woman on the screen, a play icon in the middle.

 _This is way too weird. I don't feel there's much choice but to go along with it at this point._ Sighing, I pressed play.

_"They're dead. Oh, God," she cried out. Her eyes glinted with tears. The background changed as she rushed down the hall. Screams echoed, and she flinched, running into a room-This room-and slammed the door shut. The phone fell, screen down. Scraping. Sobbing. It was picked back up. She knelt on the floor, shoulders shaking._

_"I... we're all going to die." Her voice shook. "It-I want to confess what I-we did." Her eyes flickered around the room. "I wasn't even suppose to be working today! I don't want to die here with these... these nut jobs!"_

_She ran a hand over her face, breath coming in gasps. "Dr. Abraham has gone off the deep end. She started experimenting on herself. Whatever the experiment was, she started acting crazy and now this-" she broke off with a cough, blood dripping from her mouth. After a moment she continued, voice growing raspier with each word, "It's all her fault. I sighed up to help advance the human population." The last words were whispered. "The next stage of human evolution. That's what I wanted to help do n-not this." Banging. The sound of someone crying out for help. Her eyes became distant. "They lied to us..."_

The video ended.


	16. Heck of a Day

I stared at the phone in my hand. If she was to be believed, then Dr. Abraham was responsible for all of this.

Placing the phone back on the desk, I took another look around the room. _Was the woman in the video the one who trashed it?_

But it still didn't make sense that the phone worked.

 _Maybe Phineas came here, found it, and fixed it?_ It made more sense than it somehow managing to not only hold a charge but remain intact after however long it's been. But how would he have known to fix it? That it would have a somewhat informative video on it? Even if he found it in the same place I did, it's unlikely he would have used the video game reasoning on it. He would have been guided by curiosity alone to do that.

My thoughts continued to swirl as I left the room. It didn't help that I didn't know where I was going past 'this way down the hall.'

Groaning, I ran a hand over my face. A mistake as it turns out. My foot caught on something in the two seconds my eyes were covered, and I stumbled. Pain shot through my jaw as my teeth banged together from colliding with the wall.

 _I hope no one saw that._ I rolled my eyes. _Of course no one saw that. There's no one else in this hallway..._

Straightening up, I tasted metallic tinge of blood. I ran my tongue around my mouth, expecting to find I'd bit my cheek. Not feeling anything, I continued down the hallway, still allowing my tongue to search out the source.

I stopped dead as I felt a tooth shift at the slight pressure my tongue had applied to it. _I hadn't hit the wall that hard, had I?_

That was diffidently where the blood was coming from and, after a moment on hesitation-I'd washed my hands off not that long ago-I stuck a finger in my mouth to touch the canine. It moved easily. Almost subconsciously, I slipped my thumb into my mouth as well and gripped the tooth. It slid out as though it wasn't even attached to the gum.

Blinking, I removed my hand from my mouth and stared at the tooth.

_That's... not normal._

I swallowed the blood in my mouth. My tongue poked at the new gap, touching a small bulge on the gum where the tooth was.

It reminded me of when I'd lose a baby tooth, and the new one would start to come in. Which didn't make sense. At least, not in a way I wanted to admit to.

The tingling in my back suddenly became overly noticeable, and I shook my head, memories of the broken containers cutting into it filling my head. 

_The creatures I'd fought with, did they have strange teeth or human ones?_

I couldn't recall. I had paid attention to as mainly details about them as I could at the time, but the memories were hazy now. Was this the start of a mutation?

_If I find Phineas, will he even look like himself anymore?_

The thought triggered horrible ideas of finding him only to not recognize him, maybe even killing him without ever knowing that it used to be my brother.

My breaths grew ragged as the tooth fell from my limp fingers. I'd almost killed him once already, and mere thought of his blood, his death, being on my hands was unbearable.

_But if I didn't know it was him..._

I ran a hand through my hair, squeezing my eyes shut. _I'll burn that bridge if I come to it._

Forcibly slowing my breathing, I started walking again. Either I'd hit a dead end or find something. I looked at every picture still hanging, peaked into every trashed and bloody room.

Made myself focus on anything but the dark places my thoughts wished to stray.

Both about Phineas and about myself.

My hands fiddled with lose tread on my shirt. The digits still stiff.

Then a pressure hit me from behind, and I was face planting into the carpet.


	17. Got Your Back

Sharp claws dug into my skin. I gritted my teeth. It feel like my chest was being crushed from the weight on my back. _Is it standing on me?_

I tried to reach for my knife, but the angle was all wrong, pressing the opening of the pocket against the floor.

Its breath hit my neck. I shivered.

I couldn't see it well from my position, with the left half my face pressed into the carpet. A hand landed on the floor. Its long, clawed fingers only inches from my nose.

Liquid dripped on my neck, followed by something long and slimy being dragged across it.

_What is it with these creatures and licking me?_

Taste test apparently over, the hand vanished from my vision for a heartbeat.

Something on its finger glinted in the red lights as its hand swooped down towards my face.

I raised an arm. Hoping to block it from striking my head. A broken arm would be better than a caved in skull. I shut my eyes.

The pressure disappeared.

A thud.

A screech of pain grated at my ears.

I rolled over, away from the sound, and onto my back.

There was another cry of a pain. A _familiar_ cry of pain.

I didn't even register pulling out the army knife. But it was in my hand.

The creature was on top of the top of the smaller figure. _I am so sick of these creatures!_

My vision was red. I rose to my feet. Crossing the distance in a haze, I sunk the short blade into its back.

Pain spread through my arm as it struck out, knocking me back and ripping the knife from my grip. I lost my footing and fell. I growled, jumping back at the thing.

Spotting the cause of the first screech it had let out, I reached for it. My hand wrapped around the wooden handle protruding from the thing's side.

I yanked larger knife down. Black blood poured to the floor.

The monster's attention was diverted. It looked at me. Its inhuman features twisted in a gruesome grin.

Ripping out the knife, I stepped back.

Its black eyes locked onto mine, and I swallowed.

Blood oozed down the front of the creature from countless scratches.

As it approached me, I slashed out with the weapon.

I tried not to look behind it.

Tried not to give anything away as I ducked under the swipe of its hand.

_Don't look._

But I couldn't help but look as a hand wrapped around the handle of the pocket knife that stuck out from the thing's back.

It spun around as the blade was pulled out, and I lashed out with my own. Catching it across the neck.

I sidestepped from the creature to avoid being caught under it as it plummeted to the floor. Throat slit. Pocket knife sunk deep into the back of its skull.

Raising my eyes from it, they fell on Phineas. One hand was still raised. Both painted in black. His fingers looked off, but it was hard to tell why with the amount of gunk clinging to them. He was staring at the creature with widened eyes.

I moved around the corpse and clasped his raised hand, pulling it down.

Blinking rapidly, he finally looked at me after what felt like hours. "I-I..."

"You did good," I soothed, tightening my grip on his hand. I stumbled back a step as he slammed into me, wrapping his free arm around me. He buried his face into my shoulder. After letting the knife slip from my hold, I started running my hand through his hair.

Releasing his hand, I pulled him closer to me as I rested my chin on the top of his head. He smelt like blood. It wasn't right. He should smell of motor oil and confidence.

My hand hit the dried blood on the back of his shirt. Feeling the long cut in the material, I slipped my fingers under it. Hesitantly, they brushed over the area. While covered with blood, the skin itself seemed otherwise smooth and unblemished under my touch. Like it had never happened.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. He didn't reply, but I could feel him shaking slightly in my hold. "Phineas?"

He pulled back a little, but didn't break away completely from me, head down. "It's- I don't blame you. You did what you had to," he said, voice unsteady. "Can we just... forget it happened?"

 _I don't think I'll ever be able to 'just forget' it._ Nevertheless, I nodded.

The tension in his stance disappeared, and he gave me an easy smile. But I could still the hint of fear in his eyes when he looked up at me.

It wouldn't be easy for him to 'just forget' either, but we could pretend for now.


	18. By My Side

I grunted, yanking on the pocket knife. _How did he manage to jam this in so badly?_

Placing my foot on its back, I continued trying to pulled out the blade from the deformed skull. The head jerked upward off the floor at the treatment, and I groaned, placing one hand on the base of its head. My nose scrunched up at the slimy texture of its skin. Gross.

I tugged on the blade again; the blade didn't so much as shift. "Oh, come on!"

"Do you want me to help hold it down or something?" Phineas offered, head tilted as he watched.

I shook my head. _I'll get it out._

Wiggling the knife back and forth, I finally felt it give a little. _Yes!_ The knife came free, and I shot Phineas a grin.

His own smile faltered as his brow creased, which erased my grin. One hand raised as if to point at something while his mouth opened slightly before snapping shut.

It was obvious he wanted to say something. I gave him a 'get on with it' look while standing up.

"Are-are you-" He made a weird vague gesture at his mouth. "I mean, from the angle, it kind of looked like you-you're, uh, missing a tooth?"

I blinked.

An awkward laugh came from him. "But you're not. Right?"

My tongue poked at the spot, feeling the lump under the gum. I'd actually forgotten about it. Shrugging, I gave him a nod.

Gasping at me, he said, "How? From this thing?" He kicked the creature's leg.

I stared at the creature and shook my head. _No, that would have been a lot less embarrassing._

"Then how?"

I bit at my cheek. _Denial won't help you..._ My hand tightened around the knife's handle, and I was careful to keep my voice level, "I tripped." It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the complete truth.

"You..." He shot me a look of disbelief. "Are you serious? I know you're not the most coordinated person, but that's a whole new level for you."

I stared at him. _Seriously? I'm the uncoordinated one?_ I almost contradicted him, but I didn't want to argue with him. Not so soon after...

Looking for something to distract myself with, I bent back down and turned over the creature's hand, recalling the glint I'd seen coming from it. Phineas stepped around and knelt in front of me.

"Is that a ring?"

I nodded. It reminded me of the one on the woman. It was in surprisingly good shape as well, considering it had been on the hand of a creature.

My hand slid into my pocket, searching until it hit plastic. "Is there a room with a sink on this level?"

Not looking up he answered, "Yeah, there's restrooms down the hall." His eyes flickered up to mine, and I hoped that it was the bad lighting that was making the bright blue of his eyes look faded. I closed my own eyes for a second as an image of the female mutant's white eyes invaded my mind. That wouldn't happen to Phineas, would it? "I'll show you," he continued as he stood.

As we walked, I kept catching myself glancing at him. It felt almost surreal that he was back at my side. Maybe... maybe things were finally starting to look up for us. _Knock on wood_ , the words were whispered my head in a voice I hadn't heard in quite a while. _I wonder... would this have turned out better or worse if he had somehow joined us? It already seems like whatever could go wrong has gone wrong._

A hand slipping into mine pulled me from my thoughts, however ridiculous they were-I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to be stuck here with us much less a friend. I could feel the creature's blood on it, still slightly wet. When he didn't say anything, I tilted my head in question at the action.

"Sorry. I just..." he trailed off, and I glanced at him. He wasn't looking at me, and it didn't seem like he was planing to continue. As well as I knew my brother, there were still moments where I didn't completely follow his thought process. But I still got the gist. If it made him feel better, I was fine with it. I squeezed his hand.

But I would be ready to pull away at a moment's notice in case we were attacked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who caught the MML reference?


	19. Going Nowhere

"Here we are."

The restrooms were nearly as trashed as the offices. Some stall doors were laying across the floor and the walls of the stalls were caved in. Thankfully, the creatures hadn't seen a need to destroy the sinks. Letting go of Phineas' hand, I stepped over the decaying remains of an arm to reach one of them. The handle turned with a squeak, and I waited for the water to work its way through the pipes.

There was no rust this time.

I pulled the plastic covered name tag from my pocket and began to wash it off.

Another squeak filled the air, and I looked over to see Phineas trying to wash the blood off his hands. My own hands stilled as the gunk came off of his, revealing exactly how distorted they'd become from the mutangent. His nails curved down into sharp points. While not very long, they were obviously claws. Maybe they were still forming, still growing. The thought made my stomach tighten into a knot. It was surprising I hadn't felt them digging into my skin when we'd held hands. Or maybe he'd been careful not to scratch me.

I looked away, swallowing thickly. _It could be worse_ , I tried to reassure myself.

Forcing my hands back into motion, the water and rubbing was taking off some of whatever it was covering the ID. The name had become partially viable, it was enough.

The corpse was that of Dr. Abraham.

I turned off the water. The person who started all of this was dead. Possibly one of the first to die when it all went bad. _That's almost comforting._

So why did I feel more uncomfortable knowing it?

I shook the plastic card before wiping it off on one of the cleaner parts of my ruined shirt. If someone were to look at it, I doubt they'd even be able to tell the button down was once white.

"What is that?" Phineas turned off the faucet.

Telling him about the body I had found on the lower level had slipped my mind. Not telling him about the specimens and bones had been purposeful. I hadn't wanted to. Didn't want him to be worrying about the infection, and I knew he would have been disturbed by the mention of the leftovers from the monsters' meals. I closed my eyes. Why had I been so stupid? If I had told him they'd been human once, he would have had some warning.

"Ferb?"

"I found it on a body when I went searching before-" _'Before' what? Before I stabbed him?_ I forced myself to take a deep breath. "It's an ID." _Oh, yes, because that's not vague at all._ "The ID of the person who started all of this."

"How do you know?" He sounded closer.

"From the video on the cellphone." I opened my eyes. Phineas was closer, right next to me now. "The one in... one of the offices. You saw it, didn't you?"

"Nope." He didn't seem to the least bit phased. "So they're dead?"

I nodded. _He hadn't fixed it..._

Phineas looked up from examining the card. "We done in here?"

Nodding again, I slipped the ID back into my pocket before turning away from the sink.

Phineas began to walk backwards in front of me once we got back into the hall. I sighed and watched behind him. With our current luck, he'd walk into something. "I guess... it's good the person responsible's dead." He didn't sound very certain about it, and I shrugged.

Part of me felt it was only just that she was killed due to her own creation, but there was another part that felt disappointed that I wouldn't be able to kill her myself. That part was worrying me. I couldn't recall a previous time when I'd actively wanted to hurt another human.

"Oh!" Phineas' exclamation startled me from my thoughts. His eyes widened as he reached into his pocket. "I forgot!" He pull out something and tossed it at me.

I caught it and quirked an eyebrow as I looked the Reeses. "I see you found the vending machine."

"Yeah, but most of the stuff was stale."

I ripped open the wrapper, not even bothering to remove the peanut butter cup farther from the packaging then necessary before sinking my teeth into it.

Oh my gosh. I couldn't stop the moan of pleasure from slipping out. "Is there more?" I mumbled around the bite. This is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. How long has it been now since I've last eaten? I'm not sure how long we've been here anymore.

"Yeah. I took a few of the bars, but I had to leave most of them." He gave an apologetic smile. "They wouldn't all fit in my pockets."

I tried to convey that it was fine while chewing my second bite of peanuty heaven when I bit down on something hard. Freezing, I felt around with my tongue and shoved the hard whatever to the outside of my teeth in order to swallow. Phineas didn't appear to have noticed, his obliviousness coming in handy for once.

When he turned around, I took the object out my mouth. _That's not good._ I discreetly flicked the tooth behind me as I probed for where this one had come from. _Canine, opposite side. Great..._

Hopefully, if I didn't smile, Phineas wouldn't notice.

 _Why hide it? Why not just tell him?_ I frowned at the thought. _Because he's not stupid. If I tell him I'm infected, he'll figure out that he's the one who infected me. Plus, he'll worry. I don't need both of us worrying._

I shoved the second peanut butter cup in my mouth. Trying to ignore the fact that my tongue kept wanting to prod at the new gap.

"There's a stairway through here," Phineas called, giving a 'ta-da' gesture at the open doorway. The door wasn't even in the area anymore.

I walked through the doorway. _Oh, I was wrong, there's the door. Wonder how it got on the stairs... It couldn't have landed there when it was knocked down, the angle's all wrong._

There was only one flight of steps, heading up.

"I already went up there, it looks to be the ground floor," Phineas said, joining me at the base of the stairs. "There's some windows, but I didn't try to get outside. It doesn't look any better out there than it does in here."

_No surprise there._

Grabbing the edge of the metal door, I pulled it off the stairs, Phineas began to help me once he saw what I was doing.

Door out of the way, we started up the stairs. Our feet almost silent on the concrete.

"Ferb?"

I glanced over at him.

"What's the plan to go home?"

My heart sank. I suppose it shouldn't shock me that he expected me to have something planned out. It was rare that I wasn't two steps ahead. And, technically, I was, just not in the way he was hoping. We didn't have the resources needed to get home and, even if we did, could we really go back?

He was showing signs of mutation, and so was I. What if we're contagious? Would we spread this virus to the people in our dimension?

When I looked back at him, he'd paled. "We're not going home, are we?"

Sometimes I hated how easily he could read me. "I'm not sure it's safe."

"Yeah." He sighed. "I was wondering the same."

That made it worse, if Phineas, the eternal optimist, thought going home was a bad idea... We reached the top of the stairwell, and I shut out the negative thoughts. _We'll figure something out. We always do._

The ground level looked disturbingly peaceful. A breeze blew in from broken windows, giving me the first breath of fresh air I'd had since coming here. I didn't bother looking for a door, finding a large window, I kicked out the glass still clinging to the frame and climbed out.

I squinted as the sunlight hit my eyes and looked around. High grass, overgrown bushes and shrubs dominated every place there wasn't concrete. A dull thud as Phineas landed awkwardly on the ground behind me. The street was lined with abandoned and crashed vehicles, some of the crashed one still had decaying bodies hanging out the windows.

Once my eyes finished adjusting to the light, though it still seemed much too bright, I turned to my brother as he rubbing at his eyes. _The sun must be bothering him too._ Without the red lighting, it was plain how much the mutation had taken a toll on him.

His skin looked pallid, the tan he normally sported completely wiped away. He dropped his clawed hands, blinking, before looking at me, probably with the same intent that I was looking at him with. His eyes visible, my earlier thoughts were confirmed, his eyes appeared just as faded as his skin.

_I doubt I look any better._

"You're infected too, aren't you?" he asked after a few minutes.

Staying silent, I blinked at him.

He crossed his arms. "Ferb, don't lie to me."

Rolling my eyes, I gave a hesitant nod. _It's not lying if I didn't say anything._

Phineas bit at his bottom lip. "Is it my fault?"

"I was scratched after you ran off," I said, putting as much conviction into the words as possible.

Continuing to stare at me, he frowned.

I narrowed my eyes. "Phineas, you did not scratch me." It wasn't a lie. He'd scratched at me, but his nails hadn't been able to tear my shirt let alone reach my skin.

"I believe you," he finally declared, and I had to stop myself from letting out a relieved sigh. He walked up to stand next to me and leaned against my side. "Where are we going?"

I shrugged, looking down at him. Honestly, as long as we were both alive and together, I didn't care.

A smile pulled at his lips. "To nowhere?"

It took a moment to understand what he was asking. What he was referencing. I smiled as the memory of that summer filled my mind, and I threw an arm over his shoulders. "There's no one I'd rather go there with."


End file.
